"This election won't hinge on technology issues. Just look at prevailing discussions this year at the national level: major candidates have sparred over Iran's nuclear ambitions, the role of government, inane comments on the female body, and to nobody's surprise, the economy. Despite that fact, many decisions will be taken up by the next US president and those in Congress that will affect the world of tech, and by consequence, the real lives of citizens and human beings around the world - from alternative energy, to the use of killer drones, the regulation of wireless spectrum, and policies that aim to control content on the internet. Your chance to vote is just around the corner. Here's what's at stake in tech this election, and how the major candidates could influence our future." Happy voting, American readers. Whatever you pick, please take at least a few minutes to consider that the implications of your choice do not end at the US border.

While this is most likely true from everything I've read and know about the US electoral system, the fact is still that at least it's *something*. I'm just as cynical about voting in The Netherlands, but I dutifully do it anyway, including all the proper research about what I believe is best for the country first, and best for me and the people close to me second.

My vote may not have meaning in the grand scheme of things, but at least I did all I could do as a regular citizen.

Yea, the trouble is while not all US voters care about all issues, those who *do* care will never even get a chance to vote on them. US voters get blamed for everything: coercive foreign policy, killer drones, impeding alternative energy, abusive & ridiculous patent litigation, bad DMCA copyright laws, corporate control over government, internet/device rights, etc. But voters, even ones who are educated, didn't vote for those things at all, they never had an opportunity to.

The democracy practised in the US is too hollow, in part because US politics are about wealth and influence more than representing the public.